So what makes it a T-bolt? It's the unique push-pull action. In a regular bolt gun, it's lift the bolt, pull back, push the bolt forward, then down, to cycle the action. A T-bolt reduces that to pull back, then push forward to cycle the action.
Here's the bolt pulled back, to eject the empty.
Here's the bolt pushed forward to cock and lock, ready to fire. By the way, lockup is very, very tight with this action, no doubt the result of it locking into both the right AND the left side of the receiver.
Operating the T-bolt action takes a bit more physical effort than a conventional bolt gun, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very intuitive and, of course, fast to operate. Definitely no issues with scope clearance and the bolt handle, of course. Mount the scope as low as you want.
Couple of other features I like are the thumb safety and the unique, 10 shot, rotary magazine that works, flawlessly. Fits flush with the bottom of the stock, too. The original did not have this magazine. Definitely an improvement, in my opinion.
The out of the box trigger on these T bolts is absolutely the crispest, creep-free trigger I've ever had on an out of the box trigger. Joy to work. That's the good news. The maybe not so good news, assuming you want a match grade, super light trigger, is the pull weight. It is adjustable via a screw, but you're not likely to get the poundage lighter than the 3.5 pounds where mine bottomed out. That's still very useable for hunting and fun shooting, though.
The trigger is one of two mods I did to our Target T-bolt, then. I invested in the pricey Jard trigger and now that trigger breaks at only 16 ounces. The Jard is a bit finicky to adjust, though, same as many match trigger setups. Another plus for the Jard, though, is that it replaces the composite trigger guard with an all metal trigger guard. Not a big deal, but I still prefer metal to composite.
The other mod I did was to polish out the dull (and I do mean dull), matte finish stock. These T-bolts are meant to hunt.
They're also meant to shoot, if ours is typical. Shot three sub-half inch groups from the rest with Eley Target at 50 yards. This one was the best and now that I look at it, I think that's 5 shots, not 4, under a quarter inch. Regardless, this gun is showing great accuracy potential for this first time out. Stunning, actually.
Since I had the usual backlog of other guns to work on before my fingers got too cold (and because Bill was whining to let him try the gun), I handed it over to Bill, planning to get it back for some offhand work. Mistake! I couldn't get it away from Bill, once he started to shoot it. He shot a total of 4 such targets, each target with 10 shots. Interesting, too, that once he got in the rhythm of working the t-bolt, he was pouring them into the bull at a considerably faster rate than what he does with our CZs. Not semi-auto, fast, mind you, but definitely faster than a conventional bolt gun. Less awkward to operate off a rest, too, than a lever gun.
So where does this T bolt fit in, relative to other offerings in the rimfire rifle world? Well, cheap, it ain't. Remember, this is a Browning, after all. You could probably buy two Henry rimfires for the price of this one. On the other hand, the t-bolt action is unique in the world of rimfire. Nothing else quite like it and, as I hope I have demonstrated, it's a very serious kind of fun gun, too. Yup, serious fun is a good label for the Browning T-bolt.
More on this one at another time (assuming I can get it before Bill does.
). Hope you enjoyed it.
